Parking in a reversing bay; help needed!

AdrianC

The red borders outline the land belonging to each property. The turning area belongs to none of the properties. It's part of the shared areas of the development.

Every property will have equal right to use it - and that includes an equal expectation that it not be blocked by parking. Your father had no right to "give permission", any more than the van neighbour has any right to claim it.

As has already been said, though, there is not a sausage that can be practically done about the parking.
The law does not allow clamping or towing, and only allows penalty invoice "fines" to be issued in very tightly defined circumstances surrounding signage, which do not appear to be met here.

So it comes down to all of the residents not being antisocial muppets... And we all know how well that works out in practice.

Cosmos12

Ah, I've managed to find an explanation for the brown hatched area:
"A right of way with or without vehicles (in common with the Council and all others entitled to the like right) over and along the accessroads shown hatched brown on the Plan for the purpose of access to and egress from the Premises subject to the payment of a fair proportion of the expense of maintaining and keeping the same in good and proper repair and condition". 

davidmcn

Cosmos12 said:

Ah, I've managed to find an explanation for the brown hatched area:
"A right of way with or without vehicles (in common with the Council and all others entitled to the like right) over and along the accessroads shown hatched brown on the Plan for the purpose of access to and egress from the Premises subject to the payment of a fair proportion of the expense of maintaining and keeping the same in good and proper repair and condition". 

So there you go. Nobody can park there because it would interfere with the neighbours' right of way.

Cosmos12

Okay AdrianC, thank you. 

princeofpounds

OK, so the legal position is clear then - if someone is creating a legal nuisance by blocking a right of way, then if it comes down to it you can seek injunctive relief in court to stop them doing so.

e.g. https://becket-chambers.co.uk/2018/01/22/obtaining-injunctive-relief-right-way-obstructor/

FTB_Help

Also note that when he sells, the buyers conveyancer will pick up that his house does not come with that parking spot, so the buyers will be made aware at some point during the transaction too, so it is in his best interest to make sure it is advertised correctly now

Norman_Castle

Cosmos12 said:

We have found that he is now selling his property and has said that this spot comes with it; to the point that his estate agent knocked on the door to say that it was his space “as it was on his deeds”.

To avoid potential future problems I'd contact the agent explaining they are mis-selling the property and offer them the opportunity of viewing the deeds for the properties.

http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/estate-agents-sellers-making-false-misleading-descriptions-123/

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Cosmos.

Does your mum have Leg Prot on her home insurance? If so, call them up for advice, and hopefully they'll put a letter together for both the seller and their EA. If not, just do this yourself.

Very brief letter outlining the facts. I wouldn't mention anything about the 'permission' your dad gave to that person some time ago - make no reference to this at all. It is, in any case, irrelevant, and would only serve to murky the waters.

Just state in your letter something like, 'following the visit to my home by MrX of the (named) EA on the Yth of March, informing me that their client is claiming to have the right to park in this turning space outside my drive, I enclose confirmation that this is not the case. (Go on to cite the passage and include a copy of the plan showing the brown crosshatch it refers to).

Please ensure you do not misrepresent this detail during the sale of your property.

Also, please immediately, as from the (put tomorrow's date), cease parking your van on any part of that RoW as it is not only contrary to the terms of the deeds/covenant as explained above, but also makes access to and from our driveways very difficult for both me (or your mum, if the letter is coming from her) and my neighbour and constitutes a statutory nuisance.

Failure to comply will result in an immediate official complaint being raised with the council which will have to be declared to any purchaser.

Yours upyerbottomly, Mr Cosmo'

(I'm sure Adrian/PoP etal will tweak the above to make it proper legal like.)

And - do so.

(If the council asks why your dad let it go on for so long, just say he was elderly, wasn't sure what to do about it, he was kind-hearted, didn't like upsetting folk, possibly felt a bit intimidated, that sort of stuff. But it was always a nuisance.)

davidmcn

Jeepers_Creepers said:

(If the council asks why your dad let it go on for so long, just say he was elderly, wasn't sure what to do about it, he was kind-hearted, didn't like upsetting folk, possibly felt a bit intimidated, that sort of stuff. But it was always a nuisance.)

Why do you think the council would be involved? It's a private road.

UnderOffer

Can you clarify, is your parents parking a valid drive, or have they adjusted their fence to allow a car in the back garden? I’m just comparing to neighbours fence in photo, does your title plan give permission to cross the pavement in a vehicle? It’s not clear if that’s a lowered kerb for access or just the general street pavement.